“And my top screenwriters are Robert Zemeckis, Christopher and Jonathan Nolan and Quentin Tarantino. Any movie by any of those guys is awesome. They also direct and produce a lot of their own movies now as well.”

Shaun Needham working on his script.

He chose to properly pursue his screenwriting dream about two years ago after winning £45, 000 on the TV gameshow In It To Win It. He invested some of his winnings into buying a screenwriting book and setting up his own website as a calling card for potential financiers, directors and producers.

Shaun has also written several film scripts – some of which have caught the interest of the film-making industry.

His screenplay ‘State Of Sin’, about an ex-SAS soldier who tracks down the killers of the President of America in a terror attack, received positive feedback from judges at the Page International Screenwriting Awards.

“I got an initial score of 75 out of 100 in the competition, which typically means it would have advanced into equivalent of the quarter final stage.

“I was really pleased with this as this screenplay was my first.”

Another script ‘Washington: Untouchable’, about a prohibition-era agent who teams up with former president George Washington to bring down a vicious gangster, was reviewed by industry experts at the Insider Screenwriting Content.

He said: “This one is The Untouchables meets Back To The Future.

“It received very favourable feedback but wasn’t what they were looking for at that moment in time.”

Shaun accepts you need a thick skin in the film-making business, which he describes as being incredibly tough to break into.

He said: “Movies cost a lot of money to make so producers and studios tend to invest in writers they already know as it is a safer investment.

“Having said that, there are lots of producers and professionals who use websites such as the Blacklist to look for new talent so there’s always the chance that you might get lucky.

“It’s a hard game to break into so any way I can market myself and get my name recognised is worthwhile.

“I just have the mind-set that if I keep trying, eventually I’ll get there.

“Back To The Future was passed on over forty times by loads of different studios until it was eventually picked up so I use that as my motivation!”

He added: “My ultimate ambition is to have one of my screenplays produced and make it onto the big screen.

“At the minute, I would love to just sell one but the ultimate goal has to be Hollywood.”

Calling out for Tommy - Disillusioned with the horrors of WW2, a British soldier forms an alliance with a German POW as he attempts to get home to see his new born daughter.

A Christmas Tipple - An obsessed Yorkshireman aims to continue his late father’s Christmas tradition, but much to the delight of his care-free friend, events unfold that conspire against him.

A Brew Story - An overly ambitious brewery owner inherits the family business after the unexpected death of his father, but is forced to set up a rival factory directly across the street when he is bullied out of the company by his scheming friend.